He said he received six complaints during his visit about delays in bus departures, citing one example that a bus that was scheduled to depart for Alor Star at 9am had yet to depart three hours later.
Also present were officers from the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (CVLB), and Uda Mall Sdn Bhd, the company that manages the Puduraya terminal.

“The government is concerned about the situation and wants to resolve the rakyat’s problems.

Even though the government has given the bus companies the opportunity to operate a business, some abuse this privilege and if we take action by revoking their licence, they will get angry.

“I’ve requested for the JPJ and CVLB to monitor the situation closely, so the problem can be resolved as soon as possible,” Murugiah said.

“I’ve informed them to have a meeting with all the ticket sellers to remind them to be more customer-friendly, and to have another meeting with all bus operators to remind them to fix their schedules properly and for buses to depart on time.

“It is ridiculous for them to give excuses like traffic jams as they can plan their bus schedules earlier.”

He said that he would leave it to the CVLB and JPJ to decide if any sterner action should be taken against the bus ticket sellers and operators.

On touts, Murugiah said that there have been fewer reports of customers being cheated by touts after stricter enforcement and believed that with closer monitoring, the problem could be resolved.

“The Puduraya management has also requested for an increase in police personnel at the bus terminal.

“I was informed that there are four policemen – two static and two on patrol – stationed here at the moment, but they’ve requested for an additional two detectives and four uniformed officers to patrol the area.

“I will write a letter of request and submit it to the relevant department in the Prime Minister’s Department,” said Murugiah, who is with the Public Complaints Bureau.

He added that he would also suggest that the CVLB set up a complaints counter at Puduraya and station an officer to attend to customers’ complaints.

JPJ Headquarters enforcement director Salim Parlan assured that the matters raised during the visit would be brought up at the department’s board meeting next week.